Thank you so much for taking the time to comment on the loss of my grandfather. I really appreciate every single one of them very, very much. It really does help to read all of them.
It’s been a long week, but I’m ready for what promises to be a lovely, sunny weekend. Hopefully I’ll get some spinning done tonight, and I’ll have plenty of pictures to show you soon. Hopefully spring is showing itself in your neighborhood too!
Filed under family
I’m on day five of flu hell, although I do feel more like a human today than yesterday so that’s a good sign. It’s actually not been all that bad. It just sucks so much more when you have two little ones who won’t stop climbing on Mama, or waking up Mama, and who are wired from being allowed to watch PBS 24/7. ( Little Man is now an expert on volcanoes, although his information is a bit suspicious. Did you know, that if you walk to the top of a volcano and drop a match into it, the entire volcano will explode? Yeah, neither did I. We may need to take a trip to the library. But still, you’ve got to dig an almost five year old who loves Nova.)
So anyway, you all can imagine my state right now. So here’s a picture I’ve been saving for a rainy day. I can save it because it is the sock that never ends. It stays the same no matter how long I knit it. Spunky Eclectic, Blue Faced Leicester for her sock club. These will be lovely if they ever get done. This was her Halloween colorway. So soft.
I’m supposed to be getting the house cleaned up while the Skeptic is out with the boys but thought I’d take a few minutes to post.
I dove right into my Posh Yarn from Mrs. Pao and I wasn’t disappointed. This stuff is a dream to work with and gave me one of the most lovely FO’s in a long time.
The pattern is a blend of the basic tam pattern from Ann Budd’s Handy Book of Patterns. I was just going to knit a plain old tam and let the yarn speak for itself, but at soon as I got to the decrease part realized that I wanted to add something extra. So in came the Aran Tam pattern from One Skein Wonders.
I was short stitches for the aran pattern, so I just cut out one cable repeat, added a few extra stitches for the right number and finished the hat from there. It’s a perfect fit!
I’m thrilled with how this hat turned out and rather proud of myself for taking the time to do it right. I messed up the cables majorly a couple of times and actually made myself drop the stitches down and fix them. But I’m glad I did because I love this hat.
The hat also has a sense of humor and doesn’t mind a good joke.
I love this hat so much that when we were out to eat last night and the owner commented on how lovely it was, I gleefully said, “Yes! I just finished it a few days ago, I made it myself!” I was probably a bit too excited, but after wearing it at bus duty two days in a row with no one saying, “Wow, amazing hat!” I was excited to have someone notice. (I know, first graders do not care about their music teacher’s hat unless it says “High School Musical” or “Spiderman” but I can dream, right?)
So later in the car, I asked the Skeptic, “Did you hear, she liked my hat!”
“Yup, it’s a great hat. You were a little excited about it, though, huh?”
“Okay, maybe I was a bit of a geek, but I’ve been wearing this hat for days wishing I could just say to everyone, “See my hat? I just finished it. Don’t you love it? I made it myself, see those cables?” But that would be weird and socially unacceptable. So I have to just wait for someone to notice and try not to be a bit too excited about it.”
The Skeptic, totally deadpan, replied, “But isn’t knitting weird and socially unacceptable?”*
Maybe you had to be there, but the Skeptic says things in a way that only he can, and both the hat and I nearly fell off the seat from laughter. If there is one thing I love about my husband, it’s his sense of humor.
To all my US friends, have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
*We had just been at a dinner where a friend was going on about someone at a meeting who was knitting, and that it was weird and well, a bit unacceptable.
Filed under family, finished objects, hats
Wow, a week since my last post. That’s what happens when you go home from work with a sinus infection and forget your laptop there. Seriously, the pain was so bad I could barely drive home on Monday. Anyone have success in dealing with chronic sinus issues? I’m getting so tired of these flare ups.
So what’s happened while I was suffering all week? Growth, for one. I’m always amazed when my kids hit a new spurt. This time it’s all about the words.
Knittybaby is talking, and talking, and talking. All day long I hear:
“I do! ”
“Happening?”
“CD! CD!”
“Why?”
“Crackers!”
Of course, the knowledge that he can now really communicate makes it even more frustrating for him when he tries but we don’t get it. When I can’t decipher his babyspeak I’m met with massive screaming, pushing and “No!” every time I make a suggestion as to what he is talking about. Frustrating at times, exciting to see, and even a bit weird occasionally when he surprises me with what he says and understands. I keep thinking, “this is my baby, he’s not supposed to do that yet, is he?” But he does. Every day I think how incredible it really is.
Little Man has his head exploding with letters. Suddenly he’s realized that these letters make sounds, and sounds make words, and if he can figure it all out he’ll be able to read. It’s an amazing process to watch, and I’m so happy that he has come to this on his own interests rather than being pushed into it before he was ready.
He’s got about ten random letters figured out, and he spends his day asking me what this words is, and that letter, and this sound, trying so hard to spell something other than his name. I’m loving all this growth and I’m so excited to see how thrilled he is about all of this.
I also feel like my head might explode a bit, when I’ve got one kid yelling “Mimi! mimi! mimi” and another one yelling, “Mom, now what does it spell?” (“Rxbdft!!! Almost the same as rxbtt!” We need to work on some vowels.) All with a very sweet beagle under my feet while I’m cooking dinner with a sinus infection. But still fun most of the time!
Little Man also decided to restyle his hair this week. For the last two weeks he’s been asking me to cut it, “Short on the top and sides and long in the back.”
“No, that’s a mullet. That is the only haircut I won’t let you have.”
“But I LIKE mullets!!”
Before you get too afraid, he did not give himself a mullet. He did however cut his hair in a way that makes him look like David Cassidy in the Partridge Family years. I’ve got to take him in now to have it fixed, and I’m trying to decide if I let him keep his Cassidy look or opt for something a little more trimmed, but still with his shaggy boy hair that I love so much.
He still looks a lot like the above picture, only with a feathered look. Hmmmm…..
And just to show her off a bit, here is a pic of Bailey. She is ALL beagle, but we’re loving her. As you can tell, she is a very serious girl!
Where’s that kid who keeps dropping his food?
Little Man has had the kind of week where he just needed a lot of extra cuddles and love. He’s pretty much been glued to me, to the point that he even cried when I went to knitting on Tuesday. I can’t remember the last time when he cried when I left the house. So it’s been a lot of snuggles this week, reading books, doing puzzles, a lot of general togetherness.
Tonight during supper, as he slid his dining room chair as close to mine as possible, I commented, “You’ve really needed a lot of extra Mommy time this week, haven’t you?” He nodded and dove into his sandwich.
Later, when I was getting the boys ready for bed, Little Man picked out his books and crawled into bed and said, “You know why I need extra Mommy time this week?”
“Why’s that?” I replied.
“It’s because you’re so warm. And it’s really cold now.”
Must be all that wool I’m wearing.
The beagle, as I’m sure you’re all wondering, is coming to live with us!
She was a stray we found last weekend, who stayed with us until the vet’s office opened on Monday and we were able to find her people from her rabies tag info. She is the sweetest girl ever, and ironically, her family was in the process of looking for a new home for her as she escaped this weekend for her little neighborhood jaunt. They have another baby coming and feel they can’t give her the attention she deserves.
I had hoped my parents would take her. My Mom said yes but my Dad is not quite sold on the idea. The Skeptic at first said “no way” when I brought up the idea of us keeping her if my parents couldn’t. But, he’s a softie, and when he came home from work today he told us all, “I have good news. Bailey the beagle has found a new home… with us!”
So we now have two dogs, two cats, and two kids. Wish us luck:-)
So after years of the Skeptic shaking his head at all the pictures of stash, studios, knitting needles and other online fiber goodness, do you know what I caught him looking at tonight?
No, it’s not knitting, but it is equally geeky as knitblogging can be. Basically, it’s pages and pages of woodworkers taking detailed and pictures of their shops with explanations of each picture. I post this as proof that I am not the only one with crafty geek tendencies in this household.
I was going to post on the hat that I am making, but the Skeptic has our Netflix all cued up with a hot pot of tea, so I’ll run for tonight.
Contest update on the sidebar! Keep ’em coming!!!!
Filed under family
I have too much too say and little time to say it, so here, in no special order are all the things I’d like to have the time to write a nice long post for but instead will give the abbreviated version:
1. Creativity and Four Year Olds.
(Photo taken by Little Man himself)
As Little Man is staring hard at another Lego creation:
Me: How do you know when it’s done?
Little Man: When it’s cool. It isn’t done yet because it’s still not cool.
So there you have it. How do you know when that special project is really done? When it’s cool.
2. A Problem
I really want to knit the Baby Surprise Jacket, toddler size. I have no idea how to size it up; I’ve never knit one before and I can’t figure out how to make it bigger when I’m not even sure from the picture how it all goes together. Suggestions? I want to stick with worsted weight as that’s what I’ve got, so sizing it up with bulkier yarn won’t work.
3. My Contest
My Flood Relief Contest is turning into a sad little contest with only two, yes TWO entries so far. That’s great for these fine knitters, who so far have a 50/50 chance of winning yarn but I am perplexed. Do knitters not like farmers? Not like vegetables? Not like Fleece Artist? Are they just procrastinators who know they still have 16 days to officially enter? (I did get lots of “good idea!” e-mails, but just two official entries) Is it the colorways? (Because I do think they’re lovely). Do I need to offer chocolate as well? (I will, you know, offer chocolate too.) Do you all spend your last $20 on coffee and sock yarn? I am truly perplexed.
I have dreams of being able to say “The knitters (and sewers, do I need fabric too? I’ve got it!) raised $500 for flood relief and so far we’re at $40. If everyone donated $5 each, think how much we could raise!!
4. Embarrassment
There is no worse feeling than having to tell the tech at work that your child somehow broke your laptop screen by throwing some random object at it, which happened to then hit the screen in the two minutes you were not in the room with the Precious Laptop from Work, even thought you kept it up on the Very High Buffet, out of reach from little hands. Because you can tell the tech has no children, so you ramble and say stupid things like “Maybe it was a superball” and the tech keeps mumbling things like “Apple won’t warranty this” and “well, you get the prize this year.”
Amazingly, the tech brings you a new laptop. A crummy one that he can’t fit all you music on (a problem, since you’re the music teacher) but at least it’s a laptop. You leave it at work and happily come home to your hacked together IBM.
Oh dear, I hope I didn’t paint my poor Skeptic in too negative of a light. He really is a sweetheart and his skepticisms are always said kindly; he just can’t help himself. He comes from a community of Central Wisconsin farmers who are, shall we say, practical people. If you’ve ever listened to Lake Wobegon you’ll know what I mean. The accent is a little different but that practical nature is the same. They are genetically coded to notice the one thing that might need some improvement before they notice anything else. The noticing does drive me a little nuts, the fact that he is right quite often drives me even more nuts. Case in point:
1. The bag, as gorgeous as it is, has straps that are too narrow. When I made the bag I originally screwed up the measurement. Being too lazy to re-cut I just thought “Cute! Skinny straps!” and sewed them on.
If the Skeptic had been making the bag he would have thought, “Hmmm, skinny straps on a very large bag would equal uneven weight distribution, cutting off all circulation on my shoulders when the bag is crammed full of junk. I’d better re-cut.”
So now, I’ve been dragging a large heavy bag full of stuff around that keeps digging into my shoulders. And, at least three other people have said to me, “Cute bag. Wow, those are some thin straps. Do they hold all that?”
2. The socks, which he complained were too pointy in the heel and felt too big, were ripped back just past the heel, knit one more time and now fit him perfectly. And, I will be victorious when the garter-stitch rib does not fall down. (Ironically, we were having this debate while his coveted Eddie Bauer socks were sagging near his ankles). As soon as he is not working a bizzilion hours a day I will have non-sagging shot for all to admire.
Anyway, my whole point in this story is that I hope I didn’t sound angry with him. Yup, he can drive me a bit crazy but I think all husbands/wives/partners are capable of that. And the bottom line is that he is the reason I usually do quality work. I tend to get sick of something, want it done, and might not bother to fix the minor mistakes. Then I get mad at myself later when I’m unhappy with it. So when I hear him start to say, “Hmmm….” I tend to give him a listen.
And on the other side of it, I am the reason that things do get done around here. My get busy attitude keeps him moving when he tends to spend too much time thinking about something. He will spend weeks agonizing about some little detail if I don’t step in and get him moving. Bottom line is we compliment each other perfectly, which is the way it should be, right? 🙂
Anyway, enough rambling about the Skeptic and I, although this does make me wonder now, what kind of knitter are you? Do you ponder through heavily detailed, washed and blocked swatches? Do you fix every detail? Do you just jump right in and hope it works out in the end? A little of both perhaps? And do you have someone who keeps you balanced, maybe when you’re freaking out about the 1/16 of an inch difference in swatches, or when you’re insisting that your sweater really isn’t too tight?
Lastly, so this isn’t too word heavy, photos of my recently completed apron.
And the conditions in which I worked:
I rarely sew in the presence of my boys, as you can see it’s not the ideal set-up. But my mom was here and I was desperate to get this done. Note Little Man’s rockin’ hairdo. He is quite into his long hair, but I do think it’s time for a trim…
Filed under family
Knittymama 